Phylogeny
by Darkpurplelighter
Summary: Magneto has launched terrorist attacks in New York and California; Sentinels are killing mutants. Charles Xavier readies the X-Men to stop a war forming between mutants and humankind
1. Kitty Pryde

XXXXXX

Arriving home from school that afternoon, fifteen year old Kitty Pryde entered her kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge.

"Mom! I'm home!" She yelled.

She then heard voices from the living room. One belonged to her mother, while the other two weren't familiar to Kitty.

"Katherine, can you come out here for a minute?" Kitty's mother, Terri asked.

"Sure."

Setting her soda on the kitchen table, she entered the living room. Terri was sitting on the sofa across from a man and woman, each in their early twenties.

Kitty stopped dead in her tracks and stared at them both.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it."

"You're not in any trouble," the woman said. "My name's Jean Grey and this is Scott Summers." She motioned to the man sitting next to her, wearing ruby sunglasses.

Kitty slowly walked over to sit on the arm of a chair.

"Would you like something to drink, Mr. Summers?" Terri asked as she got to her feet.

"A glass of water, if it's not any trouble, ma'am."

Terri smiled.

"Miss Grey?"

"No, thank you."

"I'll be right back."

She then turned around and walked into the kitchen.

"So if I'm not in any trouble, what are you doing here?" Kitty asked.

"We're here to offer you a place at our school. Xavier's School for Gifted Children." Scott said.

"I'm…not really all that gifted. B+ student, really."

"Not like that. There are people who have special powers, due to their genetic makeup. They can be any kind of powers—telepathy, pyrokinesis, weather manipulation," Jean explained.

Kitty blinked.

"You mean mutants?"

"Yes, but you need to forget everything you've heard about mutants on the news. We're not all evil."

"You guys are mutants." Kitty gasped.

"Not just us." Scott said. "You are as well."

"I'm not a mutant!"

"Your mother tells us that you get headaches sometimes. That you find yourself suddenly in a different room."

"I—I don't believe you."

Kitty turned to Scott.

"Why don't you take off your glasses?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Jean smiled.

"Because if he did, the solar energy those glasses are holding back would punch a hole in your house." Jean communicated telepathically.

Kitty's eyes widened.

"Okay. You were just talking in my head."

"Telepath. Believe us now?"

"The…the whole headache thing has been happening for a while, now. Am…I'm a teleporter?"

"No. It's more like you can walk through walls," Scott said.

"Oh. Cool."

Terri came back in the room.

"You told her?"

"Yes. She's taking it very well."

Jean smiled at Kitty.

"You're going to let her come with us?" Scott asked.

A communicator suddenly beeped at Scott's side.

"Excuse me. Jean will explain everything, Ms. Pryde."

Scott got up and exited the house. On the porch he held the communicator to his ear, like a cell phone.

"Professor?"

On the other end, Professor Charles Xavier spoke.

"Scott. Have you gotten Katherine yet?"

"Just about. What's the problem?"

"The Sentinels have followed you."

"What about the others?" Scott asked, looking around as panic fell over him.

"Apparently, the Sentinels haven't noticed them yet. Though Magneto may have."

"We'll be gone in ten minutes."

"Good luck."

Scott hung up and re-entered the house.

Scott stood behind Jean.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Pryde, but if it's at all possible, we need to leave quickly."

"What's wrong?" Terri asked.

"Sentinels." Jean said.

She looked up to Scott.

"It's the Sentinels, isn't it?"

Scott nodded.

"Those things from the news?" Terri said.

"They're here for me?" Kitty said, getting to her feet.

"They're here for all of us."

"She's in danger here, Ms. Pryde."

"Please, keep her safe." Terri pleaded.

Kitty looked at her mom.

"I'm going to this school?"

"It's for the best."

Fighting back tears, Kitty hugged her mother.

"Be careful."

"Will I see you again?"

"Of course you will."

They let go of each other and Kitty turned to Scott.

"You ready?" Scott asked

Kitty nodded and they quickly exited the house. On the lawn was the Blackbird, the X-Men's personal jet.

"Whoa. How did I miss that?" Kitty asked herself.

"You didn't. It just got here."

Before any of them could speak again the ground started to rumble.

"No, not now…" Scott looked horrified.

"What is it?"

Suddenly, a house across the street exploded as three Sentinels came right through it. They were ten feet tall, silver and black, with glowing red eyes.

"Mutants." One of them spoke with a deep, robotic voice. "Surrender or be exterminated."

"Jean, get Kitty on board!"

One of the Sentinels raised its hand toward Scott.

"Go!" Scott yelled.

Scott ripped off his glasses, a wave of energy pouring from his eyes, knocking the Sentinel back into the other two.

The jet started up. Putting his glasses back on, Scott jumped on and it took off quickly into the sky.


	2. Jubilation Lee

XXXXXX

Inside of a mall located in downtown Manhattan, sixteen year old Chinese-American, Jubilation Lee ran as fast as she could through the mall as she was pursued by two Rent-a-cops.

She quickly pushed past a man, face concealed by a cowboy hat, and a black woman with long white hair. Unbeknownst to her, the two are Wolverine and Storm, two other members of the X-Men.

"That her?" Wolverine asked.

"That's her."

They watch Jubilee run into the distance, pursued by the security guards.

Storm looked back at Wolverine, shaking her head at how ridiculous he looked in a cowboy hat

"Logan, why did you insist on wearing that thing?" Storm asked.

"What? I was trying to be inconspicuous."

"It's not working. Let's go."

They quickly followed the guards.

Jubilee quickly ran down an empty corridor, and out the door. She ran into the alley and soon realized it was a dead end.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Jubilee yelled in frustration.

She turned and quickly tries to grab the door before it closes, but missed. The door locks her outside.

"Damn!"

Jubilee began to pace back and forth, nervously and began babbling to herself.

"I'm not going to panic. It'll be fine. I'll explain to them that I didn't steal anything. It's all one big misunderstanding, that's all."

"What is a big misunderstanding?" A deep voice said.

She then turned around to see a tall, muscular man walking toward her.

"Nothing," she said, nervously.

"What is wrong?" The man asked.

Jubilee didn't speak as he walked closer towards her.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Piotr Rasputin. You are Jubilee?"

Jubilee nodded.

"I was sent to find you. You're not in trouble." Piotr assured.

"Easy for you to say."

"Are you in trouble?"

"Big time. A couple of security guards saw me blow up an arcade machine, which totally wasn't my fault, like that even matters to them, and so they chased me like, halfway across the friggin' mall, and then I get down here, all over a complete accident—"

Jubilee stopped.

"Sorry. Sometimes I talk too much."

"Everything will be fine. I can protect you. My leader wants you to join his cause," said Piotr.

"His cause"? What are you, in some kind of cult, or something?"

The Russian laughed

"No."

He stopped in front of her.

"He wants you to join the Brotherhood of Mutants."

Suddenly, the door open and Wolverine and Storm walked out. Piotr turned to them.

"I am sorry, my friends. You are too late."

"Whatever, Colossus." Wolverine said.

Storm spoke up.

"It is her choice to decide whether she wants to come with us, or with you."

"But if she chooses me, you would put up a fight, right?"

Wolverine popped out his claws.

"Got that right."

"Logan!" Storm yelled.

Wolverine leaped at Colossus. Colossus turned to organic steel as Wolverine is airborne, and swats him away like a bug, sending him flying into a dumpster. The dumpster is dented a bit. Logan stands up, cracks his neck, and charges again at Colossus. Colossus grabbed Wolverine and ran, smashing him into the wall.

Storm quickly ran over to Jubilee.

"Miss Lee, please trust us when we say we are not the bad guys here."

Jubilee stood in shock as Colossus and Wolverine continue to fight. Storm grabbed Jubilee by the shoulders.

"Please, will you come with us?"

Jubilee nodded. Jubilee and Storm wait until the right moment and rush past the battle that is still going on. A SNIKT echoes as Logan's claws sheathe underneath his skin, once again. He let out a feral scream as he pushes Piotr with all of his might backwards, smashing into the dumpster. Jubilee stays behind for a couple more seconds.

Piotr grabs Logan by the head and head butts him, sending Logan a little bit off balance for a second. Then, he grabbed Logan and threw him into a chain-link fence. Fatigue begins to set in as Logan's movements are beginning to slow down. Jubilee watches in horror, as Piotr grabs Logan and prepares to do a final move, that could possibly kill Logan.

'No! STOP IT! Leave him alone!"

She screams and grabs Colossus, shocking him with her "fireworks". He loses grip on Logan, who falls to the ground for a second. Colossus knocks Jubilee aside, then passes out.

Logan slowly gets up. Storm runs over to him, and he puts his arm over her shoulder.

"Kid's got spunk, 'roro. I'll give her that."

His healing ability begin to work, and soon the bruises caused by Colossus begin to vanish.

"Logan, we have to get out of here," said Storm.

Jubilee begins to stagger from exhaustion and falls backwards, fainting. Logan runs and catches her and stands up as he carries her in his arms. He looks over at Piotr, who is not in his metal form any longer, and knocked out for the moment.

"Let's go before he wakes up," said Logan.

Logan, carrying Jubilee, and Ororo quickly exit the alleyway. They kept going until they reached the van they drove here in. Logan carefully laid the young girl down in the back before getting in the front seat with Ororo.

"Oh, damn." Logan cursed as Ororo began to drive away.

"What?"

"I lost my hat."

"Trust me, It's for the best."


	3. Rogue

XXXXXX

The X-Jet soared through the air as it reachedCaldecott,Mississippi. It was the last destination for the X-Men today as it sensed the presence of another teenage girl who was having trouble with her abilities.

Running in between stores, a seventeen year old girl know simply as 'Rogue' ran down an alley from a crowd of people chasing after her. Quickly ducking behind a dumpster, she carefully peaked out and watched as the crowd passed by.

When they do, she let out a heavy sigh.

"That was too close," she mumbled to herself.

But before she could get up, a hand suddenly grabs her arm and begins pulling her out from behind the dumpster. He was a big man and there was no chance of her getting away from him.

"No! Let go of me!" Rogue screamed.

"She's right here!" The man yelled, signaling to the rest of the crowd.

Rogue tries to pull away from the man. As she struggled to get free, one of her gloves slipped off. She's able to break free for a second. The man grabs her hand again, this time grabbing the ungloved hand.

Almost instantly the man began to show sighs of fatigue and exhaustion as veins appeared on his face. After about thirty more seconds he finally let go and fell to the ground, convulsing. He looked almost like a fish out of the water, the way he kept shaking non-stop now.

A woman rushed to his side and checked for his pulse and let out a sigh of relief, at the fact that there is a pulse. It's there but it was becoming very faint.

"Someone call 911!" The woman yelled.

Rogue slowly walked backward.

"Ah didn't mean to! It was an a-accident!"

Another man stepped from the crowd and pointed at Rogue.

"She did this!"

Rogue, regaining her senses, turned and ran away from the crowd once again. Five guys ran after her and overcome her. Two of them grab Rogue by her arms.

"No! Please stop!" Rogue cried.

"Shut up!"

The man backhands Rogue, and drags her over to the crowd, then backhands her again sending her to the ground. Rogue stays there with tears running down her cheeks. Before the man could continue, a young man walked out from the shadows. He had dark brown hair and red eyes. He's dressed in black jeans with a black collared shirt, underneath a long dark brown trench coat with fingerless gloves on his hands.

He began to shuffle a deck of cards.

"I think ya'll should leave the lady alone." He spoke

One of the five guys took a step towards him, while the rest of the crowd stays back.

"Why's that? You ain't from around here; why should we listen to you? She killed a man!"

"You're right, I'm not from 'round here. But I don't think ya'll know for sure if that man's really dead."

"Well, you should know that in this town, we're the judge and jury."

"That's right, Cajun!" Another man yelled. "And we hereby convict this lady of murder!"

"An' what are you gonna do to her?"

"We're gonna lynch her."

"Right. An' that's 'cause she's a mutant, right?"

"Never said that. But yeah, that 'bout covers it."

"You see, where I come from, no one treats a lady like that. We Cajuns treat the ladies wit' respect."

The young man winked at Rogue.

"You're free to come wit' me, chére."

Another man walks into the alley behind him. He's dressed in a pair of dark brown pants with a trench coat. His skin is covered in dark blue fur.

"I agree with the lad, gentlemen."

"It's that freak on television," one of the men snarled.

"Yes, my name is Hank McCoy, and this is Remy LeBeau. And I am asking you nicely to let the girl go."

"You two are gonna stop us?"

Remy and Hank look at each other for a moment and smirked at each other, than they look back at the men.

"I'm afraid we will. But, of course, we don't have to do this the hard way. You could just let the girl come with us. It's really up to you." Hank said.

Remy was still shuffling the deck of cards in his hands as he waited for an answer.

"Well, we're not gonna let that happen!"

One of the five men charges at Remy while another charges at Hank. Remy takes another step back and throws one of his cards. The card explodes in mid air sending the man flying backwards. Hank jumps into the air and kicks his man backwards.

When he landed it snarled in frustration before shouting to the other men;

"Get em'!"

Hank smiled at him.

"I'm afraid your friends have deserted you."

The man spun around. Everyone else had indeed vanished.

"Still feelin' lucky?" Remy asked.

The man quickly takes off in the other direction.

"So ignorant. Whatever happened to Southern hospitality?"

Remy smirked.

"Dunno 'bout you, but Remy still got plenty of that."

Remy walked over and reached down to Rogue.

"Here, chére."

Rogue took his hand and he helped her to her feet.

"Th-thank you." Rogue said.

He gently stroked the mark on her face with his gloved hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

Hank walked over and put his arm around her to help her walk.

"You're safe now. We're taking you with us." Hank said as he, Remy, and Rogue walked out of the alley and back to where the X-Jet was waiting.

Cyclops saw them coming and opened up the ramp. The three of them walked up and Jean greeted Rogue.

"Hello, why don't you take a seat next to Kitty?"

She looked at the other seats and saw a girl around her age sitting in one the seats.

"You'll be going to school with her."

"What kind of a school?" Rogue asked.


	4. Settling In

XXXXXX

Once the jet got back to the school in New York, Rogue and Kitty who had talking a little on the way here with sitting with another girl in the foyer of the mansion where they were told to wait.

"What's your name?" Kitty asked.

"Jubilation Lee."

"You just get here too?"

"Yeah, about twenty minutes ago."

Before their conversation could continue, an older bald man in a wheelchair entered the room.

"Welcome. I am Professor Charles Xavier. You are here because your lives are threatened. Kitty, you were attacked by Sentinels when Scott and Jean came to get you."

Kitty nodded and Xavier looked at each of them.

"I understand that your mutations have manifested very recently and you're all having problems controlling your powers. Here, you will learn not only control, but to learn how to use your abilities responsibly. Now, these Sentinels have been prowling the country for a week, hunting and killing what the government considers dangerous mutants after Magneto attacked San Francisco. You are only the first of many that will need saving."

After Xavier finished talking, the three of them were given a room to share. After that, they went off to explore the rest of the mansion.

Outside, young eighteen year old, Bobby Drake was playing basketball with his friend, John Allerdyce. They're both dressed in a pair of shorts and a basketball jersey. Bobby checked the ball to John.

"You ready?"

John checked the ball back.

"If you're ready to lose,"

"Cocky much?" Bobby asked.

"No, just better than you." John responded.

"Fine. Next point wins, then."

John shrugged

"Your loss."

Bobby checked the ball. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that some spectators have arrived. Then he notices Kitty, Jubilee, and Rogue standing next to each other. Bobby speeds down the lane and attempts a crossover. He glances over at Kitty again. Within one second, he lost balance and wipes out. John scoops the ball away and shoots a three pointer for the win.

John then helped Bobby up.

"What'd I tell you?"

John looked over to Kitty.

"Your head's not in the game, that's the problem."

"I know." Bobby said.

Bobby looked in Kitty's direction and smiled.

"Just go and ask her out already, Iceman."

The pyromaniac pushed Bobby gently toward Kitty but Bobby wouldn't go.

"I bet you a month's dish duty you won't do it." John said.

"Make it laundry too and you got a deal."

John scoffed.

"And smell your rank socks?"

He looked back to Kitty and shrugged.

"Yeah, like you'll do it anyway. Deal."

They shook hands. Bobby turned and walked over to Jubilee, Kitty, and Rogue. Jubilee and Rogue notice Bobby coming over.

"Hey." Bobby greeted.

"Hey. That was a good game. At least, until you wiped out. That wasn't because you were paying attention to something else, was it?" Jubilee asked.

Bobby laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"Uh…no."

Bobby smiled.

"Is it okay if I borrow Kitty for a minute?"

Jubilee and Rogue took the hint.

"Actually, Jubilee and I have some more looking around to do." Rogue said and took Jubilee by the arm.

"We'll see you guys later."

They quickly left. Kitty looked around awkwardly.

"So…"

"Yeah."

Bobby and Kitty started walking toward the mansion.

"Uh…do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

Kitty blushed.

"No. Why?"

They both stop walking.

"Well, uh…I was wondering if, maybe, y' know, you'd like to…go out. Or something."

Kitty's face begins to turn a bright red now.

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Uh…yeah. I am."

She smiled.

"Sure, I'd like that."

"Great."

His watch then beeps and looked down at it.

"Ah…Miss Grey's gonna kill me for being late. Again." Bobby said.

He quickly looked up at Kitty again.

"So, I'll talk to you later."

Kitty nodded.

"Yeah."

She watched as Bobby runs into the mansion and then ran to the girl's dorm as fast as she could.

Rogue and Jubilee sat on their beds, reading magazines as Kitty phased right through the door, causing them both to scream in surprise.

"Oh, sorry." Kitty said.

"So?" Jubilee asked.

"So what?"

Rogue rolled her eyes.

"So, what did Bobby say?"

Kitty shrugged.

"I dunno. We didn't talk that long."

She walked over and sat down on her bed, picking up a magazine herself, her cheeks turning pink.

Rogue and Jubilee looked at each other and grinned.

"He said somethin'. Look at her face."

Kitty groaned.

"If you really must know, we're going out tomorrow."

"Really? That was quick." Rogue said.

"Did he say where?" Jubilee asked.

"No. We'll talk later. He was late for class."

Jubilee and Rogue exchanged significant glances.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

Kitty tossed the magazine aside.

"Alright, enough about me and Bobby. What about you Rogue? I saw the way you were looking at that Remy guy on the jet. What was with that?"

Rogue's head jolted up from the magazine.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He saved my life, and he's too old for me!"

"And that's why your face is bright red, right?"

Rogue threw a pillow at Jubilee, and after a full scale war broke out between the three girls.


	5. Crawling

XXXXXX

Forty-five minutes later class was over and Bobby left the room, walking down the hallway but Jean followed him.

"Bobby? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

He kept walking, in a daze. Jean shook her head and then used her telepathy.

_'Bobby. Can I talk to you for a minute?'_

Bobby jumped.

"Holy-!"

He spun around and saw Jean.

"Sorry. Takes some getting used to."

"For how often I need to wake you up in class, you should be well used to it by now." Jean scolded.

Bobby looked down.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jean asked. "You seemed distracted today."

"Yeah. Just thinking." Bobby responded.

"Well, you were "just thinking" for forty-five minutes back there. What's up?"

"Uh…I kinda have a date tomorrow."

"Hmm-mmm. Come with me."

Together, they walked down the hall to the garage where Scott was working on his motorcycle. He stopped as the door opens, and looked up to see Jean and Bobby.

"Hey, Jean." Scott greeted.

"Hey, yourself."

Bobby looked out of place, Jean looked at Bobby for a second before looking at Scott and communicating with him telepathically.

_"Mr. Drake has a date tomorrow, Scott."_

Scott looked at Bobby and smirks a bit.

_"And since you didn't ask me 'til you were twenty, I figure you remember enough about the first date to help him."_ Jean finished.

The smirk goes away.

"Hey!"

Jean smiled.

"I'll leave you two boys to talk."

She exited the garage. Scott looked at Bobby and got up from his knees.

"So, you have a date tomorrow?"

Bobby shuffles his feet.

"Yeah."

"Well then, between you and me, the hard part's over." Scott said.

"Well, I guess…But I have no idea where to take her." Bobby admitted.

"Dinner and a movie?"

"Everyone does that. I want this to be special."

Bobby stopped for a second.

"Where did you and Miss Grey go for your first date?" He asked.

"Life or death battle with Mystique."

Bobby's eyes widened. Scott smiled slightly.

"Life here's not exactly normal."

"No kidding."

"Well…the circus is in town. You could always try that."

"The circus?"

Pause.

"Were you ever a normal kid?" Bobby asked.

Scott seemed taken back by his question.

"Sarcasm. Nice. You got any better suggestions?"

"I guess not."

Bobby turned to leave.

"Hey." Scott said.

Bobby turns back around.

"Who's the lucky lady?"

"Oh…Kitty. Kitty Pryde."

Scott nodded.

"Well…off you go."

"Thanks for the help."

"Any time."

Bobby turned and left as Scott went back to work on his car. Meanwhile, in the game room of the mansion Remy and John were playing the latest 'Burnout' game on the Playstation 2.

"Ready to lose?" John asked mockingly

"Not on your life." Remy said in a sly tone

"Are you saying you want me dead?" John joked

"You'll wish you were after I whoop your ass at this game." Remy threatened

After a couple of hours Remy had won the most amounts of times indeed backing up his word of "whooping John's ass". Each time after a certain point John got more and more upset. It was fair to say that he didn't take losing at all well. Remy caused John to crash one more time in the game. That was the final straw that John could handle.

John had lunged at Remy, but luckily for the Cajun he had enough time to react. Remy quickly pinned John to the ground by his wrists. Remy had a greater advantage due to his greater strength, slight though it was it was enough to beat John again, this time in a different way.

"Pinned ya," laughed Remy moving his feet up to pin John's wrists to the floor while he sat on his chest. He bounced a little and grinned wider when John gasped for air, trying to twist his hands out from under Remy's feet.

"Get the hell off me." John grunted.

"I don't know, I'm quite comfortable."

He was about to say something else but laughing and carrying on from the next room caused him to look up.

"What the hell's goin' on?" Remy asked and got up off John and walked out into the hall.

Remy slowly opened the door to see Rogue, Kitty, and Jubilee running around the room, jumping on the beds, hitting each other with pillows. They immediately stopped when they saw the two boys.

"Oh, don't mind us," Remy said and winked at Rogue, causing her to blush.

"Yeah," John laughed. "Can we join in?"

XXXXXX

Later that evening Bobby and Kitty walked toward the circus tent, while talking about Rogue and Remy.

"She blushed?" Bobby said.

Kitty smiled.

"Yeah. She kinda has a thing for him."

Wow. He's gotta be a lot older than her."

"No, he's only nineteen. Rogue's almost seventeen, so…really, not that big a deal. But he's an X-Man, and it kinda weird for her out, I guess." Kitty responded.

On the way to the tent, they passed a game booth. Spotting it, Bobby grabbed Kitty's arm.

"Come on."

He lead her over to the game.

The carnie running the game sets three balls on the countertop. The game is a typical carnival game, where one knocks down a pyramid of bottles, and wins a prize.

"Knock down the bottles, win your choice." The carnie said.

Bobby places three quarters on the counter, and grabs the first ball. Short. He tries again, but misses by a hair. Kitty touched his arm.

"It's okay if you don't win."

Bobby looks at her a second, then picks up the final ball. Hiding his hand from the carnie, he freezes it just a bit, then throws it. He knocked down all the bottles. Kitty smiled.

Gesturing to the stuffed animals behind him, the carnie said;

"Any one you want."

A decent sized purple dragon catches Kitty's eye. She pointed to it.

"That one."

The carnie handed her the dragon. Taking the dragon in one hand and Bobby's hand in the other, she lead Bobby back to the circus tent.

"Thank you." She said.

"So what're you gonna name it?" Bobby asked.

Kitty looks at the dragon for a second, thinking, then looks back to Bobby.

"Lockheed. His name's Lockheed."

"Lockheed? That's original."

"Thanks again." Kitty said.

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Bobby smiled and put his arm around her.

"You're welcome."

They enter the tent, passing a poster with a picture of a demonic looking performer on it, with the text "THE INCREDIBLE NIGHTCRAWLER".

In the circus tent, Kitty and Bobby took their seats. The lights go down, and a spotlight appears in the center ring. Holding a microphone, the Ringmaster walked in and addressed the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages! I give you…the Incredible Nightcrawler!"

The spotlight swings up high, near the ceiling, where stands the seventeen-year-old Kurt Wagner. His skin is dark blue, his eyes yellow. A tail protrudes from the back of his red and block costume. He waves to the audience, then leaps to the a swing in the center of the tent.

"And now…remove the nets!" The Ringmaster yelled.

Several crew members took the nets away. Kurt took a deep breath, and swings from one swing to the next. He grabs a third with his tail, then swings upward. He falls, fast, nearly hitting the ground.

Then he disappears. The audience gasps, then applauds as he reappears on the platform from which he started, bowing deeply.

Suddenly, the tent tears below Kurt, as a large fat man and several carnies enter the floor. The audience claps at first, until a man, the Blob, knocks out the ringmaster and takes his microphone.

"Lissen up! This is the Blob, and his circus gang! We're comin' around, and we want all the money and jewels you got!"

Blob's carnies file through the stands. Bobby nudges Kitty.

"Let's go." He whispered.

"Right."

They quickly got up. One of Blob's carnies swung the spotlight over to them.

"What's this? Some punk-ass kids think they can get away?" Blob yelled.

Bobby and Kitty spun around as carnies approach them from both sides. Suddenly, Kurt teleported in between them, grabbed them both, and teleports away again.

"Hey! Where'd they go?"

Kurt, Bobby, and Kitty reappear outside the tent.

"Omigod. What just happened?" Kitty yelled.

When Kurt answered, a light German was accent detectable.

"I'm sorry to have startled you. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"You…you're a mutant too, aren't you?" Bobby asked.

"Yes. I joined the circus to hide from people who…" Kurt trailed off.

"Who what?"

"In my hometown, Munich…people thought that I was a demon. They tried to kill me."

"Oh my God, that's awful," Kitty said.

"So…if you know what mutants are, then are you mutants, too?" Kurt asked.

"Yup."

"Uh, guys? The time for talking may be over."

Kitty pointed to the Blob, who was now approaching.

"So, some mutie kids tryin' to escape. My pals can handle the baselines in there, but I wanna take you guys out 'specially."

"Muties"? Are you kidding me? No one could be that enormously fat without being a mutant!" Kitty said.

Bobby touched her shoulder.

"Whoa, down girl."

"What the hell did you say to me?"

Blob charges at Kitty, who runs right toward him and phases through him.

"Oh, gross!" Kitty yelled.

"This is gonna be fun!"

Bobby shoots a jet of ice at the ground under Blob's feet. Blob trips and falls, shaking the ground. Blob growled and got to his feet.

Kurt teleported onto his back and covered Blob's eyes with his three-fingered hands.

"Peek-a-boo!"

Blob reaches up and tosses Kurt away. Kitty runs up behind him and tried to push him. Blob turned and laughed at her.

"Nothing moves the Blob!"

"No kidding."

Bobby speeds by on an ice slide and scooped Kitty up.

"Not where you wanna be."

Kitty kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks."

Suddenly, wind whips around everyone.

"Storm!" Bobby yelled.

Jean Grey and Storm descend from the sky. Storm's eyes burn white as she manipulates the weather around her.

"Blob, is it?"

The wind pummels Blob, threatening to move him. Soon, snow and hail join it, pelting him. He grimaces, but remains firmly planted in place. Jean extends her hand and concentrates hard. Slowly, Blob lifts a half inch off the round. It is enough. Storm's winds send him flying yards away, crashing into a nearby booth.

"Bobby! Freeze him!" Jean yelled.

Bobby extended his hand, and ice restrains Blob to the ground. Jean sits, visibly strained.

"Well, that's that."

Jean smiled weakly at Bobby and Kitty.

"You guys are way too old for chaperones, you know that?"

Kitty smiled bashfully.

"We were kinda holding our own, don't you think?"

Ororo stepped next to Kitty and put an arm around her.

"That you did, Kitten. I'm very proud of you. But, try to stay out of trouble until you're better trained."

"No arguments there," Bobby said.

Jean got up and goes over to Kurt.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Kurt Wagner. Here, they call me Nightcrawler…but I'm not sure I'll have a job, now that they know I'm a mutant."

"Wait a minute—Storm, there's people in there still! Blob's guys are robbing them!" Kitty said.

"Don't worry, Kitty—we took care of the first." Jean responded.

"Blob's men have already been arrested, while you were out here fighting Blob," Ororo explained.

"Wait—then that means…" Bobby began.

"I said you were too old for chaperone, Bobby."

Jean claps him on the shoulder.

"You guys did good."

She then turned back to Kurt.

"Kurt, you're welcome to come back with us. Storm and I teach at a school for people like us. For mutants."

Kitty lit up.

"You could come to school with us! It'd be great!"

"And there's a definite shortage of male students. John and me'd be happy to have you around." Bobby said.

Kurt smiled.

"How could I refuse?"

"So, uh…how did you guys get here?" Kitty asked.

"The jet's around on the other side." Ororo answered.

"Great. For a second I thought we were walking back to Westchester."

The X-Men all walked away and headed to where the X-Jet was sitting.


	6. Ghosts of the Past

XXXXXX

The following night, Rogue and Remy were walking hand in gloved hand through Ororo's gardens. It was peaceful, the moon was bright and it was quite warm out. The two of them had dinner together, talked, got to know each other better. In many ways it was the perfect evening.

"This is nice," Remy commented.

"Yeah."

They then stopped walking. Remy smiled at her before leaning in for a kiss. They come close, each one's breath visible. Rogue suddenly pulled away.

"No…I can't, Remy."

"I'm not scared, chére."

"But ah am."

Rogue turned away.

"Ah wish ah could touch you, Remy. But…the first boy ah kissed went into a coma for three weeks. An' that was only a few months ago. Ah almost killed a man the day you rescued me."

Remy came closer, pulling her toward him.

"Hasn't Hank been helping you control it?"

"He's really helped Kitty and Jubilee with theirs," Rogue said bitterly.

"Maybe you can control it."

"Ah know ah can't."

Rogue broke away from Remy and turns.

"Ah'm sorry, Remy."

Slowly, Rogue walked away and back into the house. Remy frowned as he put his hands on his hips and stared down at the ground.

Inside, in his office, Professor Charles Xavier sat at his desk, fingers forming a steeple at his chin, lost in thought.

_Young, 12 year old Charles Xavier ran outside his mansion, under the watchful eye of his mother Sharon. Kurt Marko joined her, and his 14 year old son, Cain stands with him. Sharon and Kurt smiled at each other before Kurt looked down at his son._

_"Cain, why don't you go play with your brother?"_

_"That kid ain't my brother," Cain snapped. "He ain't even related to me."_

_Kurt glared at him and looked like he was about to snap back at his son, but Sharon placed a hand on his shoulder._

_"It's alright Kurt. He's just having trouble adjusting."_

Xavier opened his eyes and stared at the phone. He was waiting for a call from his former student and team member, Warren Worthington III. Warren, like Scott, Jean, Ororo, and Hank were his first five students.

Warren was also a former X-Man, but during a mission, Warren's wings were damaged so severely that they were rendered useless. After that, he went to Washington and had been fighting for mutant's rights ever since, even able to get Hank on a couple of television programs.

Xavier continued to sit in silence before the phone finally rang. Xavier picked it up and held it against his ear.

"Hello?"

"It's me Warren."

"Yes, you said you had a message."

Warren sat at his desk, feet propped up, smoking a cigar.

"You've had us on hold for so long, you caught me coming in for the morning shift."

"I apologize…but I know that there are only two reasons you'd be calling me in regards to Triskelion. Neither is pleasant."

"You're not kidding." Warren responded.

"So, which is it?" Xavier asked.

"It's your brother. Cain got out tonight. Not sure how. Figured you could use a heads up."

"Indeed. I'll wake the others. Thank you, Warren."

In the girl's dorm, Rogue entered to see Kitty, Jubilee, and Bobby Drake in the room. They all looked up when she entered.

"So how'd things go?" Jubilee asked, sitting in a bean bag chair.

"Awful," Rogue responded.

"What, why?" Kitty asked.

Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Jubilee yelled.

The door opens, and Jean Grey entered the room. She looked sternly at Bobby.

"Mr. Drake, would you care to tell me what time it is?"

"Uh…'

He looked at his watch.

"…no, not really, no."

"Uh-uh. For future reference, rooming with a teleporter does not mean you can sneak into the girls' dorm after curfew."

Bobby got up.

"Sorry, Miss Grey. Good night, Kitty."

"Goodnight, Bobby." Kitty laughed.

He walked past Jean, who pulls his ear as he left the room.

"Ow!"

"Good night, girls." Jean said.

"Night, Miss Grey."

Jean closed the door. She noticed that Bobby was still in the hallway.

"Bed. Now."

BAMF!

Jean turned to see Kurt Wagner materialize behind her.

"Bobby, you—oh. Miss Grey."

"Caught you red-handed."

Kurt put on a most guilty look. Jean shook her head.

"Boys," Jean said telepathically. She continues to shake her head as she walks away. Kurt prepares to teleport the two of them away.

"Go back the normal way, boys."

Bobby turned.

"It's in a whole 'nother wing."

"Do it. I'll know if you don't."

As Bobby and Kurt began to walk, Jean's voice echoed in Bobby's head, causing him to jump.

"Hey! You are aware that I'm a telepath, Mr. Drake? Since I'm doing it right now? Watch your thoughts."

Sighing profusely, Bobby and Kurt return to their dorm.

XXXXXX

Elsewhere that same night, Magneto was standing by the window of an old abandoned church that was being used for The Brotherhood's hide out. On the couch were Toad and Colossus. Standing off to the side was Cain Marko.

Magneto then began to speak.

"I've kept up my end of the bargain, Marko. I doubt you need much incentive to go after your brother."

Cain grunted.

"So eloquent. Go. The X-Men have no idea that you're with us. Though I'm sure that twit Warren has warned Xavier by now."

"You don't think I should go with him?" Colossus asked.

"No. Everything needs to be exactly right for this whole thing to work."

Magneto turned to Cain.

"You know what to do."

Cain nodded, then turned to leave.

Back in the girl's dorm of the mansion, Rogue took off her shoes and pulled off her gloves before getting into bed.

"So Rogue, what happened with you and Remy tonight?"

"Nothing."

"Oh come on. I told you guys everything that happened with me and Bobby the other night."

Rogue sighed.

"Remy tried to kiss me."

"Oh the horror. A total hottie wants to make out with me!" Jubilee said in a mock fearful tone. Rogue glared at her and Jubilee suddenly remembered how little control Rogue had over her mutation.

"Sorry," she said.

Rogue nodded.

"These powers suck. Ah wish ah could just get rid of them."

"Don't say that." Kitty said.

"What? Ya'll can touch people, no problem. Me…ah'll probably never be able to touch anybody. Ever. Know how that feels?"

Kitty got up.

"No."

Kitty phases, then touched Rogue's arm.

"And neither should you."

Rogue put her hand through Kitty's arm.

"Oh my God. Ah can't believe it…"

"See…maybe there's other things you can touch, too."

Rogue smiled

"Maybe. Maybe one day ah'll be able to control 'em."

"Mm-hmm. And when you can, you better be all over that Remy, 'cause if you're not, I will be." Jubilee said.

Rogue smiled.

"Shut up, Jubes!"

Meanwhile, in the boy's dorm, John sat watching television as Bobby and Kurt entered.

"Snagged?" John asked.

"You can say that again." Bobby said.

"I'd love to. You got caught."

"We get it, John."

"I told you, you guys are way too goody-goody to pull something like that off."

"I'm no goody-goody!" Kurt argued.

John scoffed.

"Okay."

He flicked his lighter.

"When you guys have been through half of what I have, then we'll talk."

"'Cause you're so tough." Bobby responded.

Narrowing his eyes, the pyromaniac stared back at him.

"Guess you'll never know."

He turns off the TV, then got to his feet.

"I'm going to get some food."

"But Miss Grey will be patrolling the halls now!" Kurt warned.

"Like that'll stop me?"

John leaves. Bobby looked after him and shook his head.

"He's gonna get himself into trouble one day."

However, no one was patrolling the hallways at this time. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Beast, Gambit, and Logan gathered in Xavier's office as they were told to meet their because the professor had something important to tell them.

"What's this all about?" Logan asked, a little irritated that he had been woken up.

"I have something very important to tell you all. A secret that I've kept for far too long. You see…I have a brother, my father died when I was a boy, and it wasn't much after that when my mother was remarried to one of her colleagues, Kurt Marko. Kurt had a son from a prior marriage named Cain." Xavier explained.

"So he's only your stepbrother?" Cyclops said

"Yes, though the distinction matters little."

_The sounds of yelling and cursing startled Charles slowly walked out of his room and down the hall and stopped in front of his step brother's room._

_Slowly, Charles pushed the door open to see that Kurt had thrown Cain down on the bed and was hitting him with his belt. Kurt quickly stopped and turned when he heard the door open._

"Though I was never meant to know, I soon discovered that Cain was abused by his father. For my mother's sake, he dared not treat me the same."

"Out of fear, I kept the encounter a secret. I realize now that I could not have been more wrong. I did more damage by keeping silent than Kurt could ever have done to me."

"What happened to Cain?" Storm asked.

"As it turned out, Cain was also a mutant. He grew to an extremely large size—all muscle, nothing like the Blob that you encountered—and developed super-strength. Also, basically nothing can hurt him. Kurt's abuse had psychologically damaged him, and he became violent."

Xavier took a deep breath and continued.

"At first, it was just small things, theft and such. I always thought I could save him, but Cain would never have it. He began to resort to murder."

Xavier locked eyes with each X-Man.

"Until tonight, Cain was safely locked away in Triskelion, a prison for mutants."

"He escaped?" Logan asked.

"Yes. And I fear he is on his way here. Cain placed his hatred for his Kurt onto me, for reasons I've never entirely understood. He's dangerous."

SMASH!

The wall behind Xavier's desk suddenly crashed in sending wood flying everywhere as Cain charged through, stopping just behind Xavier.

"And he's here!" Cain shouted.


	7. The Juggernaut

XXXXXX

Cain towered over Xavier who stared up at him in horror. However, before the large mutant could do anything to his stepbrother, Wolverine popped out his claws and moved in front of the Professor.

"You wanna tussle, bub, you're gonna have to go through me!"

"Go ahead, runt!"

Wolverine howled and leaps toward Cain, who simply swats him away and into a bookshelf. Cyclops tried to blast him, but his beams bounce off his armor harmlessly. Cain charges through the X-Men and crashes through the door.

Jean begins to get up from the floor, using her telepathy.

"Kids!"

In the girl's dorm, Rogue, Kitty, and Jubilee became alert as they heard Jean's voice in their heads.

"Get into the Danger Room!"

Meanwhile, Gambit and Beast chased after Cain.

"This should stop him," Gambit said as he pulled out a Ace of Hearts and charged it. He flung it at Cain, and it exploded upon Cain's back. Cain turned around.

"That tickled."

"Cain, listen to me—" Beast began.

"Maybe you ain't heard, furball—they're callin' me the Juggernaut now."

-whatever problem you have with your brother, it can be reasoned! There's no need for all this destruction!"

"Then you just don't know me, huh?"

Juggernaut grabbed Gambit and threw him up over his head, body-slamming him through a table.

Further down, John stepped into the hallway and saw Juggernaut, Gambit, and Beast down the hall. Jean ran out of Xavier's study and saw him.

"John! Didn't you get my message? Get into the Danger Room, now!" Jean yelled.

"I can help fight this guy!"

John began to run toward Juggernaut, but Jean extended her hand, stopping John in his tracks.

"Turn around now, or I make you. Now is not the time to play hero, John."

John glared at her, immobile.

The girls joined Bobby and Kurt in the Danger Room. The other students, Siren, Jamie Madrox, Leech, and Rayne Sinclair were also there.

"Where's John?" asked Kitty.

"I dunno. He went out for food." Bobby said.

The door opened again and John entered.

"John! What's going on?"

"Some big guy smashed through Xavier's office."

Silence came over them.

"So…that happens a lot around here, then?" Kurt asked.

XXXXXX

Beast flies back into a wall, leaving a sizeable dent. Wolverine charges Juggernaut from behind, claws first and stabs his exposed arm. Wolverine withdraws his claws, as Juggernaut turns and punches him out.

Wolverine's limp body fell to the ground as Storm steps into the hall, and a gust of wind rushes through the hallway. Storm's eyes go white.

"If you will not be reasoned with, then you will leave," Storm said.

The lights flicker out.

"It's up to you, Cain."

"That's enough! I'm gonna..." Juggernaut tried to march toward her but found himself stuck in place. Jean leaned against the wall, sweating and panting, her arm extended.

"Hurry, Storm! I don't know how long I can hold him."

Storm pelted The Juggernaut with more and more wind, but no how much she used against him, he refused to budge. Cyclops joined in the fight by firing more and more optic blasts at him with more power behind them, but were still useless against him.

Finally, Juggernaut broke free of Jean's hold and grabbed Cyclops giving him a hard shove. Cyclops went flying down the hall and crashed into Jean.

Juggernaut then grabbed Storm by the throat and lifted her off her feet.

Storm chocked in The Juggernaut's grasp and tried to fight out of it the best she could, but her efforts were useless and she was tossed backwards and crashed through the wall of the next room.

"Come on Charles!" Juggernaut shouted. "You can't hide behind these guys anymore! You an' me, one on one!"

Beast struggled to get up and realized the X-Men themselves could do nothing to stop The Juggernaut. Beast looked at his helmet and knew their only hope was exposing him to the professor's telepathy.

Beast got up and launched himself on The Juggernaut's back, grabbed at his helmet. Juggernaut shouted in surprise and swung around, trying to get Beast off him, but Beast hung on for dear life.

At last, Beast succeeded in tearing off Juggernaut's helmet.

Beast landed on the ground and before he could get up, Juggernaut hammered him on the back several times, before grabbed him around the head. Beast coughed up blood as The Juggernaut's grip tightened.

Cyclops and Jean staggered back to their feet only to hear the sickening sound of Beast's neck being broken.

"Hank!" Cyclops screamed as he saw Beast's lifeless body hit the ground. Forgetting all about his powers he ran towards The Juggernaut in a rage. Juggernaut merely chuckled and slammed his fist in his face. Cyclops's nose broke on impact as his body twisted and turned in mid air before hitting the ground.

"Cain Marko!"

Juggernaut spun around as Xavier wheeled himself out of his office.

He grinned and tried to walk toward him but his eyes widened in shock when he felt Xavier's presence in his mind. He realized the helmet that shielded his mind was no longer on.

The Juggernaut looked down at it on the ground and tried to reach down and grab it. Xavier closed his eyes and concentrated harder, stopping him from doing so.

"If things had been different, we might have been friends...we might have truly been brothers." Xavier said to Cain telepathically.

Cain growled as he and Xavier locked eyes.

"But you would have it no other way! This final chapter was written when we first met, this is the only way it could have ended."

Finally, Cain lost his strength and collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

Xavier took a deep breath and wiped away a bit of sweat from his brow when he looked up and saw Jean crouch beside Beast.

Jean gently touched the side of Hank's furry face.

"Hank," she said softly as tears came down her cheeks.


	8. A Time to Mourn

XXXXXX

After the professor was able to stop Cain, Warren soon arrived at the mansion with soldiers in tow to apprehend Cain and take him away. Soon, an ambulance arrived next to take Hank away.

The mansion was a mess as several walls had been damaged in The Juggernaut's attack. But the state of the mansion was the last thing on the mind of the X-Men.

John walked in to the infirmary to visit Remy after he was done getting checked up. He had a badly bruised back and a slight concussion.

"Hey," John greeted his friend.

"Hey,"

"Are you okay?"

Remy shrugged.

"I'll live."

"You know, I tried to help but that bitch Jean-

"There was nothing you could have done John, so just drop it."

John stood silent has he knew the real reason Remy was in the mood he was in. He and the rest of the students had been told by Logan that Hank was killed during the attack.

"I'm sorry about Hank," John said slowly, not knowing what else to say. He wasn't good with this sort of thing.

Remy shut his eyes and layed back down on the bed, turning slightly away from his friend, but John could tell that he was starting to cry. John squeezed Remy's shoulder for a second and left the room.

Hank was the one who recruited Remy, and taught him how to master his abilities. He was also the one to push for Xavier to make Remy a member of the team, even when the others expressed worry that he might by too young. Remy owed a lot to Hank but now he would never have the chance to thank him for everything that he had done for him.

Brushing off his tears, Remy leaned back on the bed as he squeezed his eyes shut.

The next day, a gathering of people stood outside in front of a monument for Hank. All the students, and many friends and colleagues showed up, even the professor's old friend, Moira McTaggert.

Down one line was Bobby, John, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, and Jubilee as they placed a single flower down one by one. The other students sat in a row behind them.

Scott was standing off to the side, his mind on Hank but also on some other bad news they had received.

During The Juggernaut's attack on the mansion, Magneto and The Brotherhood had attacked an anti-mutant group called the "Friends of Humanity" facility in New York. The attack left nine people, including the group's leader Graydon Creed dead. No doubt the president would soon be sending the Sentinels out in full force.

Magneto just didn't understand that all his attacks were just making things worse for mutants, not better.

After Jean placed her flower down she walked over to stand with Scott and wrapped her arms around his waist, standing behind him and resting her chin on his shoulder.

Everyone soon took their seats as Professor Charles Xavier wheeled himself in front of the large group and began to speak.

"Henry McCoy was my first recruit. He was a proud young man when I met him, proud of his strengths and abilities, proud of the gift that set him apart from other people. He loved to teach, he always tried to make his classes fun and enjoyable.

At the beginning, Hank thought of himself as separate, never truly part of the team in the way that Warren, Scott, Jean and Ororo were, he saw no reason to hide that from me. And I don't love him any less because of that pride.

And so now all that I can do is sit and look out at his light, his star, burning with that inner fire that once helped light these hallways - and wish him well. All I can do is offer him some silent wish for luck. For happiness. And for peace.

I hope there is some way that he can hear it."

After that, over the next few days the damaged that was done to the mansion was fixed up and classes went on, people trying to move on the best they could.

Meanwhile, in her room, Ororo sat on the bed, crying. A knock on the door quickly got her attention.

"Come in," Ororo said.

Rogue entered the room.

"Uh…ah had a question, about the homework."

"Sure. Sit down."

Ororo pats a spot next to her on the bed. Rogue sits.

"You alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Rogue spots a picture of Hank on the desktop.

"You sure?"

Ororo puts the picture face down on the desk.

"Positive. What was your question, Rogue?"

"Well…the lesson on evolution. You said that it was about survival of the fittest."

"That's a very basic view of the idea, Rogue, but yes, to an extent, you're correct."

"So it's about improvement, right? Betterment of the species, and stuff like that,"

"Yes. It's how humans became what they are today. It's how we came…oh, Rogue, please don't-

"Ah just…what's so improved about me? How does not bein' able to touch anybody better our species?" Rogue asked.

"I see I'm not alone in my sorrows."

Ororo flipped the picture back up.

"Who is it?"

"Oh, ah…ah couldn't say…"

Ororo smiled

"Okay. That's one problem it won't hurt to keep inside. But Rogue…your powers are special. There's nothing wrong with you. Don't ever forget that."

"Ah won't. Thanks, Ms. Munroe."


	9. To Save A City

XXXXXX

The following morning Professor Xavier was in the War Room of the mansion with the X-Men watching a security tape from Triskelion that Warren had sent them. Cyclops paused the tape when a man opened the door to Cain Marko's cell.

"Mystique," Cyclops said, knowing that disguise.

"I knew it," Wolverine said, slamming his fist on the table.

Xavier sighed.

"I didn't think Erik would go this far."

Just then, alarms in the room started going off.

"Speak of the devil."

Cyclops grabbed the remote and quickly switched it to a news channel.

"It's just as I feared. Magneto and the Brotherhood are attacking Washington, D.C. I had a feeling that would be his next target," Xavier said.

"Then what are we sittin' here yappin' for?" Wolverine said.

Cyclops smiled.

"X-Men, suit up."

The X-Men quickly raced to the ready room and each don their uniforms, black leather with different color piping for each member. Gambit wears his trench coat over his jumpsuit.

"Remy!" A female voice yelled.

Gambit looked over to see Rogue running towards him.

"Rogue what are you doing?"

"What's going on?" Rogue asked.

"It's Magento. He's attacking Washington D.C. We're gonna stop him, for Hank."

Rogue took one of his hands.

"Just promise me you'll be careful."

Before Gambit could respond, Rogue stood on her tip-toes and gave Gambit a quick kiss on the lips. They both smiled at each other.

"You bet your ass I will."

The X-Men quickly piled in the jet. Cyclops pilots the jet, Jean Grey in the copilot's seat. Behind them are Wolverine, Gambit, and Storm.

The ground above them slowly opened up as the jet lifted off the ground and flies off into the sky.

At Washington, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants attack the Washington monument. Magneto and Polaris use their powers to send telephone poles at police.

Mystique simply starts shooting at them, and Toad uses his extensive martial arts skills to take on three of the police officers. Colossus metals up and used his brute strength to pummel them.

"Look at this! They send the Sentinels after us, and yet still their police try to arrest us!" Magneto yelled, seeing more police cars coming toward them. Polaris used her powers to stop the cars and send them flying backwards.

"This is getting old, Father. You promised me destruction," Polaris said.

Magneto smiled.

"And I shall give you destruction."

Magneto rises from the ground, spinning to face the monument.

"I've been saving up for this."

Magneto stretches out with his arms, straining a great deal. The ground around the monument begins to crack and split.

The X-Jet soared over the evening skys of Maryland, zooming towards Washington D.C.

"Look!" Storm pointed.

"Damn. This guy's got style," Gambit said, raising an eyebrow.

Even from their altitude, the X-Men can see Magneto attempting to remove the monument from its foundations.

"We gotta stop him. Jean, can you do anything?" Cyclops asked.

"Not something that big."

"Storm, give us snow," Cyclops instructed.

"Coming right up," Storm said, her eyes beginning to turn white.

Cyclops looks back to Wolverine.

"Wolverine, you and Gambit ready to do a jump?"

"Thought you'd never ask. Let's go, Gumbo."

Wolverine and Gambit got up, remove parachutes from over the hatch.

"I'm opening the hatch now. Get ready," said Jean.

"Always ready, chére."

"You're clear! Go!"

Wolverine and Gambit jump out of the plane. Wolverine yelled to Gambit,

"Scared, Cajun?"

"We don't scare in N'Orleans, Logan!" Gambit yelled back.

Wolverine smiled. They plummet to the ground, activate their parachutes.

Down below them, Magneto is nearly finished.

"Father! Above you!" Polaris yelled.

"What?"

Gambit lands on top of Magneto. The X-Jet hovers just feet above as Gambit and Magneto fall to the ground.

"Ah, the X-Men. Arrived in the proverbial nick of time, I see." Magneto growled getting back to his feet.

"As always, Magneto."

Cyclops, Jean, and Storm arrive on the scene. An optic blast catches Polaris off guard, knocking her down.

Mystique joined Magneto.

"The blood traitors have arrived, Erik. What do we do them?"

"You are merely an obstacle, Cyclops. But now, not even Charles' precious students will stand in my way," Magneto said.

"We'll see about that."

Cyclops fired a blast at Mystique, but she dodges it, flipping over him and sticking a gun to Jean's back.

"Nice try," Jean smirked.

Spinning around, Jean telekinetically sends the gun several yards away. She kicks Mystique squarely in the stomach. As Mystique falls, however, Toad leaps into Jean, knocking her down.

Wolverine joined Cyclops in confronting Magneto.

"Ah. You've brought everyone, I see...except for the Beast of course."

Wolverine's eyes filled with pure hatred as his claws came out from his knuckles. He ran toward Magneto but he simply outstretched a hand and Wolverine stopped and levitated from the ground.

"You're the weakest one up against me. You know that, don't you?" Magneto smirked smugly.

Wolverine snarled.

"Against me, you're nothing!"

With a flick of the wrist, Magneto sent Wolverine flying yards away, right into the monument. Cyclops fired an optic blast and Magneto stumbles back. Magneto growled and used his powers to rip off two car door and launched them at Cyclops.

Cyclops managed to blast one away but the second smashed into his chest knocking him backwards.

"This isn't the answer, Magneto! You know that!" Cyclops yelled in a strained tone, trying to get back to his feet.

"They're not playing by your rules anymore, Mr. Summers! Or maybe you haven't noticed the silver executioners marching across the country. You haven't rescued every mutant, you know."

"And I suppose you attacking cities and killing people have only helped things!"

On the street, Storm and Gambit are confronted by police officers.

"Listen to us! We're here to stop this!"

One of the officers points a gun at the two.

"Stand down!" One of the officers yelled.

"We're not the ones you want!" Gambit said.

"We are the X-Men. We are here to stop Magneto from destroying this city. Please, let us help you," Storm pleaded.

"We know what you are." The officer said, lowering his gun.

"The Sentinels are on their way."


	10. Swarm of Sentinels

XXXXXX

Jean Grey and Toad continued to spar. Toad proves much to agile for a hand to hand fight, but Jean manages to telekinetically knock him onto the ground. Repeatedly.

"Ah! Knock that off!" Toad yelled.

"You first."

She lets him go, and Toad falls to the ground. Rather than surrender, he snaps his tongue out, catching Jean around the ankle and she falls. Toad snapped his tongue out again grabbing Jean's arm.

With surprising strength, Jean is launched into the air and lands on a car, crashing through it's windsheild.

Magneto looks up in the air to see six Sentinels fly through the buildings of Washington, landing on the monument grounds.

"And the farce continues," Magneto said to himself.

He faced Cyclops.

"Tell me, Scott; who is wrong in this picture?

Wolverine trudges back over.

"You're both wrong. This violence ain't gettin' us anywhere fast."

"Have it your way. But the way I see it, there's one easy way to stop these monstrosities."

Magneto used his powers to knock Wolverine into Cyclops, sending them both aside. He gestures emphatically and finally, the monument is unearthed. He sends it flying into the Sentinels. Only two dodge it; the rest are destroyed on impact.

On the street, the police and Storm and Gambit look over.

"Look out!" The officer yelled.

The group of police scrambles. Gambit grabs Storm and leaps to safety as the wrecked Sentinels and the Washington monument skid to a halt in the middle of the street.

More cops cars then pulled up and about a half a dozen cops got out and drew their weapons.

The police then approached Magneto.

"Open fire!"

They begin shooting.

Magneto shook his head.

"Fools."

He holds out his palm. The bullets stop before him. Magneto shouts to the police.

"I can let these fall to the ground."

Two or three of the bullets fall.

"Or I can send them right back at you."

A bullet speeds back, hitting one of the officers in the forehead. The police officer's eyes slide closed and he falls backwards on to the ground.

"The choice is yours."

The police officers looks around at the others and down at their fallen comrade.

"Drop your guns," one of the officers instructed.

They do. Magneto smiled.

"A wise choice, officer."

The bullets fall to the ground.

"You see, Scott, I can be reasonable."

Cyclops, Wolverine, and Storm join Magneto.

"You have a hell of a way of showing it," Cyclops responded.

"We're still takin' you down tonight," Wolverine growled.

Magneto laughed.

"I'm sure you will try. But my point, I fear, has already been made. That building represents the laws of this country. They've forgotten what it means to be lawful, and now the monument is gone."

"And another innocent person dead," Storm spoke.

"We all make sacrifices, Storm."

Eleswhere on the monument grounds, Gambit joins Jean in the fight against Toad. Toad picks up a fragmented lamppost and uses it to spar with Gambit, who uses his staff as defense. Toad tries to use his tongue again, but Gambit grabs him.

"Hold him still for me, Red."

Jean reaches out toward Toad, freezing him.

"Hope you enjoy this, mon frére."

Gambit charges Toad's tongue. Jean winced as Toad wails, the shock sending him flying back several feet.

"Thanks, Gambit." Jean smiled.

After getting done with Toad, Jean and Gambit raced back to join the rest of the X-Men.

Polaris stepped to Magneto's side.

"What about the other two Sentinels?" Polaris asked.

The Sentinels have regrouped, and now approach the X-Men and what's left of the Brotherhood.

"We eliminate them, my dear."

Magneto addresses the X-Men.

"You'll forgive me, Cyclops, but I'm going to presume to give orders."

"Not on your life."

"Try me. Polaris and I will take the one on the left. You all can do what you like with one on the right."

"Fine."

Magneto smirks. He and Polaris ascend into the air, approaching the Sentinels.

Wolverine pops his claws.

"Let's rip it to shreds."

The X-Men charge the Sentinel. It stands at three times the height of Wolverine, the tallest of the X-Men.

"You know what to do, Red."

Jean focused her power and Wolverine levitated off the ground and lands on the Sentinel. Wolverine latches on to its head, and digs his claws into its "brain". Cyclops barrages its midsection with optic blasts, while Jean holds Wolverine steady with her telekinesis. Storm hovers around its midsection, ready to zap it on Cyclops' word.

Magneto and Polaris merely rip their Sentinel apart limb from limb, as Colossus continued to fight witht the police.

"Look at how they work together, Father," Polaris said, observing the X-Men.

"It is their greatest strength, Lorna."

Magneto removes the Sentinel's head.

"But even that is nothing compared to our strength."

"They will prove versatile opponents."

"The Sentinels will not be seen after tonight. Not for a long time. We will strike again when the time is right. Charles can't stop us."

Polaris smiled evilly.

Back with the X-Men, the Sentinel is very nearly beaten. It begins to topple.

"It's down, Storm! You and Jean steady it!"

Wolverine leaps down, rolling to a stop.

Storm's eyes go white, and she manipulates the wind to blow the Sentinel out of harm's way. Jean keeps it steady.

"Good work, people," Cyclops sighed.


	11. The Once and Future King

XXXXXX

Magneto and Polaris stride over to where the X-Men were standing behind the wreaked Sentinel.

"Congratulations, X-Men, though that probably took slightly longer than it needed," Magneto smirked.

"We do appreciate your assistance. If only we could work together on a more regular basis," said Polaris.

"We don't work with you, Polaris," Cyclops responded.

"We will always be here, Scott."

"And we'll always be here to stop you." Jean said.

"Yes...except for at New York because you were all too busy crying over the blue ape," Polaris taunted.

The X-Men all looked enraged after her comment, Gambit even took a step forward but Jean held him back.

"Enough for today," Magneto said, turning to his daughter. "Let's go, before more humans arrive."

After Magneto and Polaris left, limos and armored cars pulled up. Warren Worthington III and President McKenna get out and Warren approached Cyclops.

"Nice job, Slim. Coulda done without the property damage, but seein' as it's not your fault…"

Warren looked over to see Toad's limb body on the ground.

"Shouldn't there be others?" Warren asked.

"They got away," Cyclops explained.

Out on the street, Mystique and Colossus look on from behind the wrecked monument at Toad being arrested.

"Shouldn't we be helping him?" Colossus asked.

"And get ourselves arrested, too? No. Erik planned for this. When the time's right, we'll get him out."

"In the meantime?"

"We recruit more mutants to join our cause."

Back over on the street, Warren turns to the President.

"Mr. President, excuse my French, but even we're gonna have one hell of a time coverin' this up. Not too many ways to explain the Washington monument blocking traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue."

"We'll come up with something."

The President approaches Cyclops and the X-Men.

"Mr. Summers, is it?"

The President extends his hand. Cyclops takes it.

"That's me, sir."

"You have my gratitude for your actions tonight. I can't speak for the whole country, strangely enough—but I know that I can sleep easier knowing that there's a few good mutants out there. That if these people try something, you'll be there to stop them. And it means a lot to me."

"And the Sentinels?" Storm asked.

"Consider them a thing of the past. I'll be making the executive order first thing in the morning recalling the Sentinels."

Warren chuckled.

"Don't worry. In government speak, that means we called them off five minutes ago."

Cyclops grinned and the president spoke again,

"Normally, we have a thing about vigilantes…but you can consider yourselves exempt as long as I'm around. I ran it by with the proper authorities, and they've agreed to keep from arresting you on sight."

The President turns away.

"We'll be looking to you folks in the future. Keep up the good work."

"I guess that means no cover up. Congratulations—you people really were here tonight." Warren said and turned away. "I'll keep in touch."

As he leaves, Toad is put in a squad car and taken away.

Cyclops turns to the rest of the X-Men.

"All things considered, this went pretty well."

Jean nodded.

"Guess it's time to head back. We've got a bunch of kids to look after now."

"But the Sentinels are gone. They don't gotta stay wit' us anymore," Gambit said.

"If only that were true," Storm spoke.

"Think about it, Cajun. Just 'cause the President called off the Sentinels, don't mean they magically go away. And even if they do, we still gotta worry about the people who made 'em," Wolverine said.

"Those kids aren't safe at home. I imagine Professor Xavier will be bringing a lot more in over the next few months."

"It is our duty to protect them, they're the next generation," said Jean.

Cyclops nodded.

"They'll turn out alright."

A few days after the event that took place in Washington, Charles Xavier wheeled himself to an old park, he and his old friend use to go to, where several chess tables had been set up. It was early in the morning, so no one was there, except for one.

"Hello, Erik."

Magneto does not move.

"Hello, Charles."

After a minute of silence, Magneto spoke again.

"The president gave quite a rousing speech the other day. You do realize what has just occurred."

"The President is a good man. But the others are not. And they often prove to be more important. They understand exactly how far you will go."

"And how far is that, Charles?"

"Too far."

"I truly am sorry about Hank,"

Xavier lowered his eyes and nodded.

"But I had to distract your X-Men long enough to get done what I needed to do. Even if they have been called off for now, these Sentinels have proven we can't live in peace with these…these people."

Another minute of silence swept by before Magneto spoke again.

"It's a pity that our lives parted ways so long ago, Charles."

"Indeed it is, Erik," Xavier agreed.

"I suppose two stubborn old men cannot be expected to change their ways."

"I should think not."

Magneto gets to his feet and faces his old friend.

"Then I think there is nothing left to be said. My Brotherhood and I will back to strike again and again."

"I have no doubt of that. But as Jean said, I will be here to stop whatever it is you're planning."

Magento scoffed.

"You and your little helpers couldn't stop me in California, they couldn't stop me in New York, and they couldn't stop that monument from coming down. This has gone past diplomacy, Charles, and you'd do well to accept that. My way is all that's left."

"That, then, is where we part ways."

"If it must be so. Goodbye, old friend."

"Goodbye, Erik."

Spinning on his heels to walk away, Magneto headed back to his waiting car to take him back to his hideout, no doubt to plan his next attack on humanity. Xavier turned his chair around to head back to his school.

But before he made his way forward, Xavier turned his head to look back at his old friend for a moment. He frowned a little before finally directing his chair forward, back to his students, to his X-Men.

To be there to stop Magneto from starting the war he wanted to wage.

The End.


End file.
